Closely linked values

What does inclusion of diversity mean to you?

I think emphasising the importance of inclusion is the key to unlocking the value of diversity. Inclusion allows the unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds that your employees bring to truly contribute to your organisation’s ability to innovate, challenge assumptions, and identify risks. By fostering an inclusive environment, you will ensure that employees feel safe and secure to speak up and share their ideas, enabling them to fully participate and contribute to the organisation's success.

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Culture is always moving

Being a curious and authentic person comes with challenges. I have the ability to understand the different beliefs, values, and customs that someone has based on that person's origins. I think it’s impossible to talk about anything from the past based on how we live today. Culture is always moving, therefore, it’s difficult to pass judgement on life was like in another time or region. What we perceive as civilised in one part of the world may be viewed as barbaric in another, and vice versa. This doesn’t make it wrong, it’s just a reflection of their respective cultures and viewpoints. It’s crucial to recognise that neither side is inherently right or wrong – these are simply two different ways of life, as everyone is just trying to solve their challenges in the best way possible.

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Are you a value creator?

When I enter a business meeting, my focus is consistently directed towards identifying elements that can provide the client with either an opportunity for growth or a stimulating challenge. Ultimately, I’m looking for things that are going to motivate them to act. It’s not enough to just tell them what they want to hear because I am supposed to be the expert in what I do. I aim to serve them by creating value and sharing insights into their thought process.

Here’s a line of questioning:
- What are your views and values? 

- What do you believe is good, right, and true?
- Where do you think your market’s going?

- Have you identified the intersection between your business and the market? 

- What are your recommendations based on what you believe to be good, right, and true? 


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Do not compromise

People who can make an emotional connection between their work and something socially meaningful to them are more likely to find satisfaction. And they are better able to adapt to the inevitable stresses and compromises that come with working in the world. The three things one should never compromise:

1. Your integrity 

2. Your values

3. Your principles

I think you should stay true to yourself in all you do, as authenticity cannot be faked.

““Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.””

— Bernard Baruch

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Material vs. psychological value

Is economic value material or can it be psychological?

Economic value can be both material and psychological, depending on the context and perspective. In the traditional sense, economic value is often associated with tangible and measurable factors such as physical assets, goods, services, or resources. The psychological aspects of economic value are driven by individual or collective beliefs, preferences, and emotions. I think the next burst in economic growth will be driven by improvements in marketing efficiency, specifically resulting from in academic research in psychology, human behaviour, anthropology, and behavioural economics.

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With this gift

How can we change the stories we live and work by for the better?
You can’t give away everything to everyone nor can you be everything to everyone, but you can go into a community and be a part of it. When people get more value, they do more , pay more and give more in return. I think that when we figure out what a community values, show up, be present, participate, listen, and become a relevant member.

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Naive realism

Values form the behavioural core and the motivational force for an individual, therefore, I think values are more important than knowledge.

““When you succeed, be generous.
When you fail, be compassionate.
When you win, be humble.
When you are scared, be thoughtful.
When you are beaten, be modest.” ”

— Lolly Daskal

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Let your values be your compass

I think the hardest part of leadership is knowing yourself and I truly believe that leadership exists in each of us. To be a great leader one must know who you are, and what's most important to you. We must acknowledge who we are both our successes and our shadows. We must resist the urge to ”cancel” people and celebrate those who persevere; those who remain calm in a storm and embrace their shadows.

Leaders are not born; they are made through values, virtues, principles, and character.The most common way we give away our power is thinking we don't have any. Lead from within in order to empower others to stand in their truth and to speak in their power. All you need is a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love.

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Inner, outer and other

Every leader today needs a strong ethical rudder and I think inner focus is essential. This inner sense is an ethical rudder and answers the questions  - Is what I am about to do in keeping with my sense of meaning, values, right and ethics? This is not a question we answer in words, we answer it first with what feels right and what doesn’t feel right, then we put it into words.

Then there’s other focus, which is being able to read people, being able to tune into a person. There are three kinds of empathy:
1) Cognitive Empathy means I understand how you think about things, your mental model of how you see the world. This means I’m able to communicate with you in terms you really understand and resonate with. Leaders and managers who can talk to other people with good cognitive empathy are able to get better than expected performance from their people because they will know what really matters.
2) Emotional Empathy is an immediate felt sense of what’s going on in the other person and this is also absolutely essential. If you only have cognitive empathy and you don’t have emotional empathy, then you’ll miss the mark.
3) Empathic Concern is the third kind of focus in other words empathic empathy is outer focus. Not only do I know how you think and feel but if there’s something you need and I can help, my DNA means I am predisposed to help.

The leaders and managers who have the most loyal employees in their team, have all three kinds of empathy. Contact me via e-mail for workshops on empathy.

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You will become unstoppable

What do you think about the headline?
You will be unstoppable when you create a purpose for your work that is bigger than yourself! How many great minds with solutions to big problems are out there? And many of them are blocked by the same problems. Some of the most defining moments in our lives happen around our traumas. I think if you don’t have a reason or story - in other words a purpose - to keep showing up and doing the work, then it will wear you down.

I think what makes you unique and stand out from the sea of competition is who you are and how you are working with people. How you do what you do and the beliefs and values that you emphasise in your process. I guarantee that you will feel empowered when you start to pick up on that divine purpose you have for being here on the planet. All the roadblocks in your way will be more easily overcome. In reality people want to work for an organisation and in a team where there is meaning behind what they do.

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Do you know your customers?

The customer experience, both physical and digital, begins the moment someone is exposed to your brand and can extend through their entire lifetime depending on the memories you have created from their experience – both as an employee and customer. Satisfying and exceeding both the functional and emotional needs, values and aspirations of your customers and employees cultivates brand love, advocacy and loyalty. Brands must know their customers better than the customers know themselves.


I think success will no longer defined by giving customers what they want, when they want it. Instead, brands must anticipate what customers need before they need it, and offer it at the best price and deliver it quickly. The new success criteria will be measured by how well retailers can personalise, customise, digitalise and socialise. As consumers, we should support the brands that are not just talking about the important humanitarian issues of our day, but are also contributing to bettering the lives of those affected.

Mind the gap

One of the big lessons I learned from the pandemic has been patience - “Make do now and then make better later”. We measure success by the way we touch the lives of people and now I realise that everything I learned about parenting was about leadership. Both parenting and leadership have the following attributes in common:
- Caring
- Listening
- Trusting
- Empowering
- Teaching
- Mentoring
- Leading

There is always going to be a gap between your ambition and your ability. The big question is are you willing to trust progress and not seek perfection? Contact me via e-mail to arrange a confidential meeting if you are questioning yourself about: Who you are, what you stand for and what you do for others?

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Decisions, decisions, decisions

One could define your values as the standards of behaviour and the ways of doing things that you think are correct in the ways you live and work. When your actions and decisions align with your values then you will demonstrate to others that you have integrity. You become a good role model and experience peace of mind because you are confident that you are doing the right thing. When you act in a way that goes against your values then you will feel unhappy and bad about yourself. You may also make mistakes and find yourself acting unethically.


I’m sure that that you have noticed that different people have different values, and these often determine the things they do in life. It’s not hard to make a decision when you know what your values are - do you know what your values are? Contact me via e-mail and let’s have a conversation.

Tips for a positive life

1. Work hard

2. Be positive

3. Be generous

4. Stay curious

5. Trust yourself

6. Stay teachable

7. Show gratitude

8. Be kind

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People have a persuasion resistance

We should always focus on the buyers’ needs and how we can solve them. Guiding the buyers through the decisions and tasks from an authentic perspective will make it more likely to get the deal done. The role of the sales person is to guide the buyer through this process. In the minds of the buyers, sales is not necessary.

Training is not about persuading buyers to buy your products as in general as most people have a persuasion resistance. Nobody want to be sold to! The real role of sales persons is to influence buyers through the buying process. In reality, the buyers are in charge of the selling as they have to sell to internal stakeholders. I think that influence is far more important than persuasion, we only have to tell one story - the customers story. Tell the story of what the future may be like with you in it based on a vision and values.

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From small acorns mighty oaks grow

Photo via @frkbajer

What values are found in good people?
In my opinion, there is no such thing as a good person. The idea of what we constitute as “good” is not correct because a good person is someone who is trying to improve. And no matter how “good” you are, there is always room for improvement, therefore, the real goodness is in the attempt, it’s in the process.

I think that we learn things painfully and when we learn things painfully a part of us has to die and that’s the pain. For example, when a relationship dream is shattered, a huge part of us that constituted that dream has to be stripped away and destroyed. Life is a constant procession of change and to fully participate in it, you have to allow yourself to be redeemed by it.

Metaphorically speaking, the good is the process of death and rebirth voluntarily undertaken – you are not as good as you could be, so let part of you die. I am fully aware that the thing that emerges in its place is something better. The secret of human beings, unlike any other species is that we can let our old selves die and let our new selves be born, and that is exactly what we need to do.

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People with passion can change the world for the better

You can go to the best education facilities and spend years trying to learn about marketing or you can spend 7 minutes watching this Steve Jobs presentation from 1997.

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What Have I Become?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time for reflection. I am fully aware that opportunity is always mixed with difficulty, therefore, the only time when things will change is when I change. “I am not a product of my circumstances I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey


I had an epiphany last week that made me think about the meaning of my life and what have I become. The voice said, “You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are and unless you change what you are, you’ll always have what you’ve got.” I know that the major key to my better future is me, and in my case true happiness is not contained in what I get, happiness is contained in what I become. I immediately knew that I had to start working on myself and as there are only 24 hours in a day, time was not the issue. You cannot get more time, but you can create more value as we primarily get paid for the value we bring to the marketplace. We have plenty of energy to do the things that we really want to do as motivation creates energy.

The Last Dance - Netflix

What are my life goals? How can you hit a target that I don’t have? How to set goals and how to achieve them? I know that you have to have your goals in place to get what you want, and I have to set the kind of goals that will mean something by achieving them. I have to start by making myself comfortable with being uncomfortable as when you let yourself get comfortable with your way of life, you miss out on what you could accomplish when you keep reaching for the next golden ring. One has to eliminate all the negative influences in your life and that also means friends who are dragging you down and keeping you from reaching your goals.

1. Identify exactly what you want.

2. Why do you want to reach this goal?

3. What are the obstacles you need to overcome in order to achieve this goal?

4. What are the skills and knowledge required to reach this goal?

5. Who are the people, groups, organisations you need to work with in order to achieve this goal?

6. What is the plan of action required to achieve this goal?

7. When is the completion date?

Your goals could be physical, mental, spiritual, social, family, career or financial. Are you committed to reaching your goals? When you have a solid base with a solid commitment and solid objectives then you have a much better chance of reaching your goals. Please do not confuse activity with accomplishment! Have you written out your clearly defined goals? Yes? If no, why not? Is it because of fear, a poor self-image, no desire or just because you don’t know how? Would you like some guidance with how to set your goals? I am interested in building characters and developing leaders. Contact sb@stephenburrell.com

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